Better Heroes

Better Heroes

What does it take to move the needle on the world's toughest problems? In Season 3 of Better Heroes, we scoured the globe for groundbreaking collaborations between passionate individuals and visionary organizations, who are all on a mission to solve humanity’s most urgent challenges. Can AI make the world a better place? How can we change our consumption habits to better serve the environment and underprivileged communities? What can we do to make our financial system work for all? The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) give us a map of how to create a more equitable future. This series will bring you on a journey to explore what is possible — and believe that humanity can save itself, and our planet. Better Heroes is a project of EY Ripples, a global program to mobilize people across the EY network to help solve the world's most urgent social and environmental challenges. Produced by Hueman Group Media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

June 24, 2025 29 mins

What if there was a way to shift the system and create better opportunities for everyone? What if businesses could thrive while also empowering their employees to share in their success?


Today’s guests are going to tell you about the potential of shared ownership and how they’re converting ownership structures.


Anna-Lisa Miller is the Executive Director of Ownership Works. She’s leading a movement to reshape ownership structu...

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One of the keys to building a more sustainable future is for corporations to step up and assume their responsibility to decrease CO2 emissions.


Luckily our guests today are leaders in corporate sustainability initiatives. Michaela Morris is CEO at Tasman Environmental Markets (TEM). Tasman helps businesses achieve their carbon emissions goals. Mathew Nelson is EY Oceania, Chief Sustainability Officer.


On the show, Mathew and ...

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June 10, 2025 28 mins

The difference we can make in the world when we come together is far greater than any individual or company could possibly make on their own.


Our guests are Payal Dalal and Meredith Jones. Payal is the Executive Vice President, Global Programs for the Center for Inclusive Growth at Mastercard. 

Meredith is a Managing Director, Climate Change and Sustainability Services (CCaSS), Ernst & Young LLP. She’s also the author of...

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The recipe for social impact success includes, concern for people and the planet, problem solving, a specific motivation, and mentorship. Our guests today, Arturo Quiroz and Stephanie Benedetto, have every ingredient in this recipe and more.


Arturo is the founder of Wareclouds, a digital platform that makes use of a network of individual homes acting as warehouses and fulfillment centers. The decentralized locations allow produc...

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What if I told you mushrooms could be used to build roads?


In this episode, we’ll introduce you to the people who are taking this idea from just a fantasy for video games and movies to a real technology that’s reducing pollutants and making construction more sustainable.


Line Kloster Pedersen is the founder of Visibuilt. The idea for mushroom roads first struck her while she was on a hike. Then Line had to figure out how to c...

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More than half of all companies use AI in their work today - and that number is only going to grow. But not everyone has the opportunity to prepare for that future and learn about this rapidly changing technology.  


That’s where our guests, Naria Santa Lucia and Marcie Merriman come in. 


Naria is General Manager, Skills for Social Impact Leader at Microsoft Philanthropies. She ensures all people have access to ...

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What is the definition of ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI)? How can advancements in technology be put to work and make the world a better place? What issues are impact entrepreneurs trying to solve right now?


One place where AI can make a world of difference is education inequality. In this episode, we’ll bring you the story of the ed-tech company, Geekie and its founder, Claudio Sassaki. Geekie has deployed AI to personaliz...

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What does it take to move the needle on the world's toughest challenges, shaping the future with confidence? 


Visionary individuals, groundbreaking collaborations and committed organizations.


This season brings stories of entrepreneurs using mushrooms to build roads; organizations  changing the way supply chains run in South America; AI democratizing education, and some of the world's largest organizations working t...

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Better Heroes is back with a new episode just in time for Climate Week in New York City!


Have you heard the acronym ESG? We’ve definitely mentioned it once or twice on the show. It stands for environmental, social, and governance. These are three areas where businesses have become far more conscious of their impact on the world and are evolving in their ability to quantify and disclose their impacts, risks and opportunities for ...

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Neurodiversity is an asset in the workplace but employers haven’t always been ready for it. Research shows that when neurodiverse people are properly supported, they come up with more novel ideas and better serve customers.


Supportive technology has changed the game in this regard. Things like AI, can help people focus on their strengths while filling in the gaps where they might have a weakness. 


One of our guests today...

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Despite the uncertainty of new technology and conversations about the negative impacts of AI, today’s Better Heroes believe whole-heartedly in its positive uses.


Rami Amin is the Director of Innovation and Digital Partnerships at Visa. He spearheads AI initiatives, and digital partnerships, with governments, to help financial ecosystems.


Sophie Sirtaine is the CEO of CGAP which stands for the Consultative Group, to Assist the...

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July 15, 2024 26 mins

In order to best prepare students for the workforce, artificial intelligence (AI) should be taught and used in schools. Some countries and some states are way ahead of others when it comes to how they approach teaching AI. 

That’s where public, private and government partnerships come in to level the playing field. Today’s guests are embracing AI and preparing current and future generations to work with it.


Pat Yongpradit is...

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Have you ever heard of the Zulu word, Ubuntu? It means ‘I am because we are.” The term alludes to having a collective vision, goal and effort as a community rather than an individualistic outlook.  


Both of today’s Better Heroes are living, breathing examples of how this collective effort can help us live more sustainably by changing our consumption habits. While they have different approaches their goal is the same: T...

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Volunteering seems like a normal everyday activity. Planting trees, cooking at a soup kitchen or picking up trash are all great examples. But what if we could amplify the impact of these activities?

 

In Singapore, at least 31 organizations including EY and CitiBank, have joined together to get more people to volunteer more often. It’s called Project V - as in volunteer. This episode’s better heroes got involved with Project V i...

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How do you find and build meaningful partnerships when you’re working across borders, and in unfamiliar communities?


Today’s Better Heroes have the answer. 


Peter Awin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Cowtribe, a digital platform distributing animal vaccines across Ghana’s villages. Malte Pielhau is a Director at EY Germany and Christian Bausch is Associate Director at Boehringer Ingelheim Social Engagement.


On the show, ...

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June 10, 2024 22 mins

How many world-changing ideas are out there that just need a little bit of funding to get off the ground?  Thanks to this episode's better heroes, one idea is getting off the ground that could change the way we feed the world! 


Cilia Indahl is the CEO of EQT Foundation. Her group makes impact investments and paves the way for other investors to support groundbreaking startups. Chee Hoe is the CEO and co-founder of Qarb...

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AI is the buzziest of the buzzwords right now. Almost everyday we hear about the risks and the benefits, we hear about how AI is the future, and we try our

 best to understand how it’ll affect our industry and our jobs. But today’s Better Heroes aren’t just concerned with the current applications for AI and the current industry, they’re preparing future generations of AI programmers and users.  


Beatriz Sanz Sáiz is EY ...

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How do we activate and motivate millions of people across the globe to adopt daily healthy habits? And is there a way for these healthy habits to have a net positive impact on our communities as a whole?


Today’s Better Hero is Eduardo della Maggiora. 


Eduardo is the co-founder and CEO of Betterfly, a wellbeing platform that converts healthy activities from users into charitable donations. Betterfly provides customizable ...

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May 20, 2024 26 mins

Ordinary office supplies can have a value far beyond their cost and everyday use. Big organizations have whole teams tasked with procurement - the purchasing of items necessary for them to do business. If those teams take into account the social impact of the items they buy the process becomes social procurement. 


The tea in your office kitchen is a great example. If it’s from NEMI Teas, it’s not just providing you with you...

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Minority businesses aren’t just underestimated, they’re woefully underfunded. At the current pace, in the US, it will take 333 years for a minority-owned business to achieve revenue parity to their non-minority counterparts! But we can significantly reduce that timeline with support and collaboration. Ethel Torres is the CEO at National Drug Source, a pharmaceutical distribution platform that’s providing safer and more secure healt...

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